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In the Mind of Julie Ann Walker – 30 Years of Happily Ever Afters

This week we’re jumping over the hump with our featured workshop presenter and NY Times Best Seller, Julie Ann Walker!

Julie will be giving two workshops at our conference in October. How To Make Your Characters THUNDER Onto the Page and The Hard and Fast Rules for a Kickass Query are just two of many fabulous workshops we have scheduled.

For more information on our conference, on when registration opens, and other popular questions, please visit our website at http://www.njromancewriters.org.

Julie is also celebrating a new release this week, so please join me in congratulating her and welcome her to NJRW!

Why did you decide to write romantic suspense?

I’m a voracious reader, everything from mysteries to chick lit, romance to thrillers. And romantic suspense seemed to be the only genre that had it all. It combined the who-done-it of a mystery with the humorous take on issues affecting the modern woman that’s the staple of chick lit. It has the thrills, chills, and spills of a thriller and, of course, the happily-ever-after of romance. Basically, it’s all things good rolled up into one fast, fun, riveting read.

Who has had the most influence on your writing?

My husband has definitely had the most influence on my books. I write tough, tender, oftentimes hilarious alpha males, and Mr. Walker is an absolute gem when it comes to bro-speak and guy-isms. You know, those words and phrases men like use? The funny one-liners or the inventive curses? He – usually unknowingly – gives me tons of ideas for unique and witty dialogue. Bless him and his deliciously typical male vocabulary. *wink*

Why did you decide to become an author?

It’s weird, but I never really “decided” to become an author. Like I said, I was always a voracious reader, and over the years I looked for stories about ex-special operations soldiers turned spies. Stories that were thrilling and intriguing and sexy. Stories that centered around men who knew the difference between being alpha and being alpha-holes – there is a HUGE difference – with a lot of bromance and snark thrown in for fun. But I could never find a book or a series that seemed to hit all these marks. So I thought, “Well, I guess I’ll just have to write it myself.” It seemed to be the only solution. And the first book I penned, HELL ON WHEELS, ended up being the debut title in my Black Knights Inc. series. So I guess you could say I fell into writing, into being an author, in the usual way… I had a story to tell.

Would you tell us your story of getting “the call?”

Ha! My agent tells me it was the most anti-climatic moment of her life. You see, I had been out on a bicycle ride – the lakeshore in Chicago is a gorgeous place to exercise – and I’d blown a tire. I was in the middle of replacing the tire, my hands were greasy, my knuckles were bleeding, and it looked like there wasn’t going to be enough air in my little portable compressor to blow up the new inner tube, when my phone rang. My agent was like, “We just got an offer for not one, but three books in the Black Knights series. Squee!” To which I responded, “Good, great. But can I call you back in thirty? I’m dealing with a bit of an issue here.” Click. She tells me she just sat there, blinking at her phone in disbelief. But, in my defense, I think I was in shock. Because when I called her back after having ridden home on a half-inflated tire, you can bet I squealed and happy-danced like nobody’s business. Still, even after two years, she has yet to forgive me for my initial lackluster response.

Oh my goodness, that is hilarious! Can you tell me what books can we expect to see in the near future?

Oh, I’m so glad you asked. I’m very excited about what’s coming next! First of all, I signed a contract for the remaining books in the Black Knights Inc. series – that’s a total of twelve for anyone who is counting. So, tons more BKI fun to come! Next, I’m writing a new series about a group of former Navy SEALs who have turned their talents as dive-specialists into a lucrative salvage business. Here’s the tagline: “Six men. One sunken Spanish galleon. Millions of gold and silver coins lying in wait on the ocean floor. And a past that refuses to let the guys of Wayfarer Salvage forget the Navy SEAL motto that the only easy day was yesterday…” It’s like Mission Impossible meets Treasure Island. So fun! And last but certainly not the least, I’m spearheading a romantic suspense anthology – to debut April 2015 – which includes some of the top names in genre. All proceeds will go to the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity I’m very passionate about since it strives to enrich the lives of soldiers who have sacrificed so very much in the service of our country. As you can see, there’s so much to look forward to!

I love that you are contributing to that project, as a veteran myself, it really touches home. What was the defining moment that you considered yourself an author?

It was the day I saw a woman reading one of my titles on a plane. In that instant, I thought, “Holy smokes! Someone besides my mother is actually reading a book I wrote!” LOL! It was a happy moment, let me tell you.

What makes a man attractive to you?

Confidence. And not the too-much-hair product-wearing/gold-chain-sporting/I-can-take-any-of-you-mofos-in-this-bar kind of confidence. But the real deal. The man who has weathered the storms, taken his lumps, been down-and-out a time or two, but come out the victor in the end. The kind of quiet confidence that radiates from a man even when he hasn’t spoken a single word.

What is your favorite quote?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ attributed to Mark Twain

What’s your favorite place in the world to visit?

Florence, Italy. I’ve been there three times, and each time I fall just a little bit more in love with the place. It is so quintessentially Italian. Cobbled streets. Grand fountains spurting crystal-clear water in the centers of piazzas – squares. Statuary and art around every corner. Pasta. Prosecco. And an unabashed zest for life.

Where do you write?

I write in my home office… which I share with my husband. Imagine, if you will, two people who sit not two feet from one another. Both wearing noise-cancelling headphones. Both guzzling coffee like it’s going out of style. Both garbed in last night’s PJs. We’re a sorry pair to look at most days, but we’re productive. *snort*

Cat or dog person?

Both. If it’s fuzzy and cute, I’m in.

Favorite reader-fan story?

I received a piece of fan mail from a woman who had undergone back surgery. According to her, she was in immense pain, we’re talking excruciating, the kind that even the highest doses of morphine couldn’t combat. She was miserable, her spirits were failing, she hurt so badly she wanted to die. In an effort to take her mind off the agony, her sister brought her the first four books in my Black Knights Inc. series. And for fifteen hours straight, while she followed the BKI boys on their adventures, she wrote that she was pain-free. I have to admit, that’s about the highest compliment I’ve ever received…

Okay, Jules, get ready, we have our rapid response portion. Don’t think about your answers, just say the first thing that comes to mind. Ready?

Favorite color: Red. It’s so visceral, so vibrant.

Favorite number: Thirteen. I was born on the 13th, and I’ve never found it to be unlucky. Knock on wood.

You are an amazeballs author!!! Your ability to weave major plot twists, sexy Alpha males, and keep your readers engrossed in a story is incredible. You are without a doubt one of my 3 favorite authors!! Thank you for all of the great reads….and especially Rock Babineaux!!! LoL!

Congrats on the new release Julie!! I can’t wait to read it. I almost did a happy dance when I read that there is going to be 12 books in the BKI series!! It was hard control myself, but I had to since I’m at work.

That was a blast to read! So fun learning about you. My husband asked me to do something and I’m like “not now, hold on”, just like when I’m reading your books! Made my day to know there will be so many more BKI books to come! Thank you for telling that first story and for rolling all those things we love into one freakin’ awesome series! I so look forward to your other projects as well.

You are an amazing author! I came across Born Wild a while back and because I loved that book so much I read all other related books as well. Interesting story lines and honorable/alpha men are two things that draw me to your books. I can’t wait to finish reading the new book, Hell For Leather and I’m excited to hear about the future plans/new books!

So glad there are more to come in this series – love it when you can lol when reading a book and I can do that with yours. Agree with you on thirteen being the best number except when it falls on a Friday – I was born on the thirteenth and had my 40th birthday a few years ago on a Friday the thirteenth – oh my is all I can say!!

Oh, there’s a book buried beneath my bed – a paranormal romance – where I tried to write a good alpha-hole in the vein of the heroes in the ever- awesome Kresley Cole’s books or the amazing Gena Showalter’s series. But according to my agent, the hero I wrote wasn’t so much an sexy, brooding, wounded alpha-hole as he was a straightup ASShole. LOL! She told me to burn the manuscript.

2014 Meeting Schedule

January 25th
February 15th
March 22nd
April 12th
May 17th
June 21st
*July (no meeting due to RWA National Conference)
August 16th
September 20th
October (no regular meeting due to NJRW Conference)
November 15th
December 12th (holiday party - members only)